Thieves steal from 20 cars, garages in Cypress-area neighborhood

Harris County deputies say while it's likely several cars were burglarized, only a few people turned in officials complaints.

Author:
Levi Ismail

Published:
11:29 PM CDT June 12, 2018

Updated:
10:43 AM CDT June 13, 2018

HOUSTON – Two thieves baffle a Northwest Houston community after stealing money, ammo and a gun between dozens of homes.

It happened Friday morning in the Copper Lakes community, according to neighbors who walked out of their homes to find their belongings had been ransacked.

Bevan Brinkley left his phone in the garage, after watching the Stanley Cup finals. He returned the next morning to find boxes opened and a charger attached to nothing.

Anxiety mounting, he checked his security cameras to find two people walking onto his driveway at 4 a.m.

“You can see them turn a cellphone on and they walk that way,” Brinkley said.

Pointing in the direction of Rene Rodriguez’s home around the block. Rene recognized the same two thieves as the men who climbed his fence and rummaged through his cars.

“It makes me mad, because they can see kids live there,” Rodriguez said.

Both men called the Harris County Sheriff’s office, but were alarmed when several other neighbors mentioned they too had missing property.

“At minimum 30 people,” Brinkley said.

Jackie Georgalas described people gathering like flies. Her garage had been rifled through, but thankfully nothing was stolen.

“To know that they walked up and opened the gate is insane,” Georgalas said.

Bevan tells us one elderly neighbor did catch the thieves in the act of stealing from her car, but the men walked away when she threatened to call the police.

On camera, the two men could be seen taking ammo from Bevan’s garage and a pistol from Rene’s car. The combination raised alarms for many in the neighborhood, but Bevan says the ammo was antique and couldn’t be fired.

Harris County deputies say while it’s likely several cars were burglarized, only a few people turned in officials complaints. They go on to say, they’ve noticed groups of thieves working together in areas adjacent to Copper Lakes. Similarities are there, but it’s hard to make the connection without surveillance evidence from both.

Some homeowners chose not to file reports, though their belongings were tossed. They tell us once they realized nothing was stolen, they chose not to involve law enforcement.

If you do recognize any of the thieves, please contact the Harris County Sheriff’s office.